Cross-over track unit for toy railroads



July 21, 1936. w HAFNER 2,048,378

CROSS-OVER TRACK UNIT FOR TOY RA ILROADS Filed June 26, 1933 L7 fizaezzi or on cross ties in ordinary electrified toy tracks. The respective third rail sections 25 may conveniently be electrically connected by means of lengths of conductor, such as indicated at 29, which extend through suitable openings as indicated at 30, the conductors being, of course, provided with an insulated covering to prevent short circuiting on the main track structure.

In some instances, it may be feasible to use the described cross-over section for electric trains without providing any third rail elements, this because of the shortness of the cross-over track sections. An electric train operated at ordinary speed will readily carry over the length of the cross-over and pick up the current on the opposite side of the cross-over. Of course, it would be necessary to provide for suitable connection of the third rail sections on opposite sides of the cross-over to the source of power, but such con-. nections may be made in any conventional manner well known to those skilled in the art.

I The above described construction of cross-over is obviously much lessexpensive to produce than themulti-part units of the prior art. One simple'form of the prior art embodies at least 14 distinct parts, whereas the improved structure above described embodies but one single part suitably stamped to provide the required rail and wheel guide elements.

-' Changes may be made in the desired structure without departing from the spirit of the invention, the scope of which should be determined byreference to the following claims, the same being construed as broadly as possible consistent with the state of the art. I claim: 7 1.-"A cross-over of the class described, comprising a sheet metal member stamped to form 'rail portions upwardly oflset relative to the normal'plane of the member, and wheel flange guide portions offset downwardly relative to said normal plane, said guide portions being substantially continuous and said rail portions being interrupted by the respective transversely extending guide portions, portions of said member remaining in said normal plane to constitute reinforcing webs v 2. A cross-over of the class described, comprising a sheet metal blank stamped to form an integral'structure embodying two pairs of tracks crossing each other intermediate their lengths, theend portions of each track pair outwardly of the intermediate intersecting portions thereof being of approximately the same length as'said intersecting portions, whereby the over-all length of the cross-over relative to its vertical dimension is such'that the latter is adequate to provide sufiicient strength and rigidity in the cross-over to sustain the same, when normal loads are applied thereto; against buckling when the cross-over is fsupported at its extremities by connections'with other track sections and with the bottom of the "transversely extending guideways, but said guideways being continuous and sufiiciently rigid to compensate for the loss of rigidity incident to the interruption of said tracks by said guideways. i

V 4. A one-piece, stamped, sheet metal cross-over for toy railroads comprising two pairs of relatively transversely extending tracks, guideways formed adjacent the inside of each track, said guideways being transversely arched and extending continuously for the entire length of the respective tracks, the transversely arched formation and continuity of said guideways serving to impart such rigidity to the cross-over as to facilitate supporting of the same solely at its ends by connections with other track sections.

5.- A- toy railroad track member having rail portions which extend transversely of each other, comprising a sheet metal member having said rail portions pressed to upwardly offset relation to the normal plane ofthemember, and wheel flange guide portions also extending transversely of each other and respectively disposed substantially parallel with said rail portions, said guide portions being pressed to downwardly offset relation to said normal plane, the respective guide portions being substantially continuous from end to end and respectively extending transversely of and interrupting the continuity of said rail portions, portions of said member adjacent said rail and guideway portions'remaining substantially in said normal plane.

7 6. A cross-over of the class described, comprising a substantially rigid stamped sheet metal structure embodying two pairs of tracks crossing each'other intermediate their lengths the end portions of each track pair outwardly of the intermediate intersecting portions thereof being of approximately the same length as said intersecting-portions, whereby the over-all length of the cross-over relative to its vertical dimension is such that the latter is adequate to provide suflicient strength and rigidity in the cross-over to sustain the same, when normal loads are applied thereon, against buckling when the crossover is supported atits extremities by connections with other track sections and with the bottom of the cross-over spaced upwardly from the plane of the bottoms of such other track sections.

F. HAFNER- 

